Report of subsidies to dead farmers debunked Sunday, April 3, 2011 The General Accountability Office, the auditing and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, caused a stir in 2007 when it reported that as much as US$1.1 billion annually was being improperly paid to dead farmers. That's out of about $20 billion for crop subsidies, conservation practices and disasters. But, according to Associated Press, a subsequent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency says that just isn't so. Matching payments to social security death records revealed that 121,527 payments totalling $108 million in 2007 went to people who had died. The agency found that, in nearly every case, the dead farmers' estates and other entities were legally entitled to the money because the subsidies had been applied for before the death.A USDA study of subsidy payments in 2009 showed that just $1.22 million went out in error, out of $16.6 billion. The agency says it cut its error rate to 0.008 per cent from two per cent in one year. BF U.K. dairy farmers caught in a supermarket price war It pays to read the manual
Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility Friday, June 27, 2025 Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online
Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost Friday, June 27, 2025 The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online
Health Canada sets rules for drone spraying Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Health Canada has approved the use of drones, also called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), for pesticide application under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA). Drones are considered aircraft by Transport Canada, but Health Canada treats them differently due to their unique... Read this article online
Twelve Ontario Agri-Businesses Receive Funding Support Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Bioenterprise Canada has announced the successful recipients of the second call for proposals under the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI) Commercialization Stream. Twelve organizations across Ontario will receive support to bring innovative agri-food solutions to the... Read this article online
Early Career Research Award supports two Guelph research initiatives Tuesday, June 24, 2025 The 2025 Early Career Research Award was presented to two University of Guelph researchers at the recently held Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) symposium. Dr. Kelsey Spence received $40,000 towards her work in on-farm biosecurity research, and Dr. Sam Workenhe was awarded... Read this article online